As a rookie with the Rangers, Hargrove was one of the early targets of Cleveland fans during the infamous Ten Cent Beer Night incident on June 4, 1974.

He irritated pitchers by stepping out of the batter's box after each pitch and starting his routine, which consisted of (1) adjusting his helmet, (2) adjusting his batting glove, making sure it was tight on his hand and especially the thumb, (3) pulling each sleeve on his uniform up about an inch, and (4) wiping each hand on his uniform pants – and then sometimes repeating the whole process again – before finally settling back into the box.

Adding further to his "Human Rain Delay" moniker was his extremely fine bat control, which allowed him to foul off pitches.

[citation needed] Through June 16, 2009, Hargrove was tied for second of all Rangers players ever in career leadoff home runs, one behind the 9 by Ian Kinsler.

[2] Hargrove worked as first base coach for Cleveland before being promoted to manager in 1991 to replace John McNamara, who was fired 77 games into the season.

He led his team to five consecutive AL Central Division titles in 1995–99 (being the first and so far only Cleveland manager to reach the postseason in five straight years), and World Series appearances in 1995 and 1997.

They beat the defending world champion New York Yankees in a tight five game series before facing the Orioles, who had the best record in the AL.

A managing error by Hargrove on July 22, 1999, led to the first Indians pitcher to bat in an American League park since 1977, as Manny Ramirez was penciled in at the designated hitter position while Alex Ramirez was listed at right field, but somehow Manny entered the game at right field, thereby nullifying the DH when the opposing manager noticed.

He proved to be the second of seven managers that led Baltimore to a fifteen year drought from the postseason, with Hargrove finishing in fourth place in four seasons from 2000 to 2003.

[7] During an exhibition series between players from the US and Japan, Hargrove infamously stated that future MLB All Star and Gold Glove fielder Ichiro Suzuki, whom he would later manage, would be easy to defend on grass.

On July 1, 2007, Hargrove resigned his position as manager of the Mariners, saying in a prepared statement that his "passion has begun to fade" and it would not be "fair to myself or the team" to continue.

[11] Hargrove flatly stated that it was not a rift with Ichiro that caused him to leave, saying that it was his loss of passion for the position of manager that made him resign.

From 2007 to 2009, Hargrove managed the Liberal BeeJays, a summer collegiate wood-bat team in southwest Kansas, whom he'd previously played for in 1972 while on the roster of Northwestern Oklahoma State University.

His duties consist of assisting the coaching staff during spring training, and working in the front office during the regular season.